South
South (사우스, Sauseu) is one of the Four Great Witches and the Explosive Witch. Her Sorella is Peony and she was previously allied to North. South leads the largest group of witches currently known and her ambition is to enslave all of mankind. She is one of the major antagonists of Witch Hunter. Appearance South is a tall, rounded yet slim woman with very long hair. Being a Great Witch, she is known to be very attractive like all those who share her rank. South's outfit is composed of a red halter, baring her midriff, detached sleeves that extend well past her hands, and her shoulders are exposed with thick, wide, circular adornments right under them. The rest of the outfit includes a long ankle-length skirt, slitted on both sides up to the waistline, and adorned with small tassels. She also wears high heels and her hat is modeled after a priest's cap, save for the curved extensions on the left and right. Personality South looks down upon humans, thinking that they are weak. According to East, South wants to enslave humanity, referring to people as "toys", and enjoys "breaking" (killing, maiming, or otherwise causing severe psychological trauma) them. Despite this, she does not seem to oppose humans if they are Supporters, even allowing ones like Lancelot and Lee to attend a supposedly witch-only meeting and respects both of their strengths, which exceed their respective masters'. Sadistic to a fault, South enjoys killing, telling Varete (whom she supposedly killed alongside North) that she was "delighted by the fact she could kill her again", and is unconcerned about being at a disadvantage with the presence of both Varete and Neptis in North's CastleWitch Hunter Manhwa: Chapter 36, Page 16. Her passion for fighting is further emphasized by her love for the sound of explosions, fire and destruction.Witch Hunter Manhwa: Chapter 48, Page 23 Despite her behavior, she is rather intelligent or at least highly perceptive, as she notes that Merlin's Magic Circle is actually the entire city of Camelot. However, she is headstrong and often prone to let her bloodlust for conflict overcome her, thus her title as "King of Conflict". Her bloodlust can easily arise when something intrigues or amuses her (such as destruction or the thought of having a supporter) arises in conversation, even when negotiating or simply conversing. Though even she can hold back her bloodlust at times, such as when Merlin sweet-talks her into stopping her attack on Britain. She has expressed a desire to have a Supporter but admits she lacks the patience needed to acquire one, which shows that she understands her limitation but is unable to have enough self-control to overcome those limitations. Story History South first met Etwal acting as East millennia ago. Every few hundred years she would attend a Great Witch meeting. South has a history with Merlin where the two, along with the other Great Witches made a peace treaty centuries ago, although South wants to double cross him. More than 17 years ago, South attended a meeting between the Four Great Witches to discuss their response to the recent attack on witches by humans. Early into the meeting, East and South quarrel but West stops them from continuing, focusing them back on topic. South agrees with North in wanting to punish the humans, contrary to West who wanted to nurture them. The meeting ends with West warning them that she will fight if they harm the humans. Soon after the meeting 3 years before the war starts, South and North ally with each other. North manages to sneak South into East's Castle which surprises Etwal. After North summons Peony and they have a chat with Etwal, South goes on a rampage, destroying East's Castle. She states that they're there to fight and reminds Etwal that her barrier isn't effective against her since she doesn't use magic and instead just releases her mana. Etwal asks how she's going to deal with Surtr who would only be enraged by her actions. Suddenly from behind her, Surtr rips open his dimension and yells at her. Expecting the supporter's arrival, South smiles as Neptis teleports him away. During the moment Surtr was missing, South and North quickly defeats Etwal and drags her to North's Castle where Etwal was chained up against a wall. She expresses her dissatisfaction from the fight since Etwal was suppressed so easily. North tells her to keep her cool since Surtr could find them if she were to exert more mana than necessary. South was surprised by the appearance of East from Etwal's hat. She immediately assumes East was Etwal's sorella although Peony denies this since it would be impossible for Etwal's sorella to appear under those circumstances. When she hears Etwal call her master East, South is amused by the truth and orders Peony to capture East. South continues to be entertained when the truth is confirmed right before her eyes by Surtr who protected the real East but as Surtr appeared, South managed to pull Etwal down from her shackles and grabs her by her hair. After watching East flee with Surtr, South tosses Etwal aside and pursues East with Neptis. Less than a year after, she collaborated with North again to kill West and Varete. The Other Magic Marksman Arc South first appears at a meeting she held with her high ranking witch subordinates. After quieting Rose down, she opens a discussion of starting the second witch and human war. Soon after, South receives information leaked by Neptis regarding the location of the WH Southern Center. North appears not to recognize what Neptis has done, as stated by Eunryu. She alone goes to destroy it, but states her dissatisfaction after she took it down so easily. She then tells Rose that she plans on paying a visit to North. The Knight and Rose Arc South confronts Neptis at North's Castle which agitates her. Neptis asks her why she's here to which she states she's only meeting a friend although Neptis rebuts that North didn't consider her a friend. Varete appears in front of both of them, much to South's shock who thought she was dead. Varete explains how she is still alive and tells her to leave. South ignores her and is overjoyed by the opportunity to kill Varete again but is convinced by Peony, who appears from her hat, to leave and come back another day after North has completed her plan, that way her fight against North would be more entertaining. Fights in Britannia Arc South is seen after Aria Godspell and Varete retreat, as Varete had noticed her presence. She calls Britain "Calia's playground" and interferes when Calia and Cougar Kunein are about to begin battle. She descends upon the battlefield and immediately blasts Cougar with her mana, setting her entire surroundings on fire. However, she notes that her mana had activated much sooner and much closer than she had intended it to. She turns to Merlin, who arrived at the scene of the battle, and asks him if he had been the one to do it. She recognizes that the entire city was his magic circle, and he used that to counter South's own powers. South acknowledges that even a Witch of her caliber would be unable to fight something like that, calling Merlin the "Archmage." As South is about to fight Merlin, she releases tremendous pressure, but Merlin easily negates its effect and reminds her of their agreement: South would not interfere in any area that was under Merlin's jurisdiction. After a couple more exchange of words, South agrees to retreat. Training in Wonderland Arc South pays East a visit in her cottage. East questions her presence to which South notes East already knew her reason of coming. Revealing it to be information on North's plans, East asks South why South thinks she would know. South says it is because she and North reduced East to her current state, thus knowing East's personality, South was sure East wouldn't just sit back. When East again questions why she should help South, South states because she hasn't killed East yet. This trigger's Surtr to appear, to which South blasts him with her mana. She notes her desire to have a supporter, but comments she wasn't patient enough to obtain one, and that she'd much rather kill East to quickly get Surtr. Before South can do anything irrational; Peony appears and calms South down. Peony then persuades East to tell them North's plan, and the two leave. Invasion Arc After receiving a letter of warning on the WHs attack on her castle from Merlin, she laughs out in joy and tells Peony to get ready to greet their guests. Powers and Abilities South is extremely powerful since she's one of the Four Great Witches even though she doesn't use magic and instead uses only mana. Cougar Kunein notes that she's stronger than Edea Florence who is the strongest WH to ever exist with powers greater than twice an S-Class'. She is currently the strongest witch with North and East weakened and West deceased. With the power she possesses, South was capable of destroying the WH Southern Center by herself and is able to destroy a considerable number of buildings with an attack launched by a flick of a finger. Explosion: South has a massive storage of mana which is explosive by nature. When releasing it, the mana will go rampant by burning and exploding everything in its path. This mana is extremely destructive and South can easily destroy massive structures with ease. Flight: South is capable of flying and can stay stationary in mid-air.Witch Hunter Manhwa: Chapter 48, Page 1 & 17-18 Witch Abilities Mana Source (마력의 원천, Malyeog-ui Woncheon): Like all witches, South produces her own mana which can be used to enhance her physical abilities in many aspects or to cast spells. The amount of mana she possesses is extremely large, being a person of her rank. Mana Manipulation: After a witches' awakening, she can figure out how mana works instantly and manipulate it as naturally as she breathes. It takes longer for witches to enhance their physical capabilities compared to chi users but the effects last for a full day. South doesn't understand magic and doesn't know any spells. *'Enhanced Speed': The mana produced can increase the speed the witch can function. *'Enhanced Strength': Attacks reinforced with mana are more powerful than ordinary attacks. *'Enhanced Durability': By reinforcing their body with mana, witches are able to withstand attacks ordinary humans aren't able to. *'Regeneration': Mana allows the witch's wounds to heal at a more rapid rate. Mana Storage: All witches are capable of naturally storing mana within their body, although to a limited extent. Like all Great Witches, South's body can store a massive amount of mana without the aid of her hat. Mana Perception: A trait all witches possess, the ability to see mana. Equipment Witch Hat (마녀의 모자, Manyeo-ui Moja): The hat is where the Mana Source is located and can store an endless amount of mana but when lost, the mana can't be retrieved from the missing hat. Oddly enough, the hat is made from mana itself. Similar to all other Great Witches, South can easily survive without her Witch Hat. *'Sorella' (소렐라, Solella): As South's sorella, Peony can appear from South's hat as well as listen in on South's conversation. The hat will disappear after said summoning although she has teleported to South while she wasn't wearing a hat.Witch Hunter Manhwa: Magazine Chapter 109, Page 12 Castle (성, Seong): Like all Great Witches, South has a massive castle. Witches are said to be a couple times stronger when fighting in their own lair. Relationships Peony Peony is South's sorella and most trusted subordinate. Since Peony is her sorella, she is essentially a part of her and Peony reflects this by always looking out for South and South's reliance on her is unparalleled. Unlike her other subordinates, South doesn't control Peony with fear but instead they act as if they're extremely close siblings. When it comes to negotiations, South seems to rely on Peony more than herself as her sorella is described as a smart counterpart to South's headstrong persona. North North and South are currently each others biggest threat. They don't mind teaming up with one another if they both have the same aim (such as defeating West), but they separated after the deed was done. The only reason South hasn't attacked North is because Peony convinced her to wait. As Peony notes, North would tell South about her plans if they benefited her, so since she hasn't made contact, it's clear North's plans are detrimental to South, which has caused South to seek council from East in order to understand what North is plotting. East In the past, South and East didn't get along very well since South wasn't very rational. The relationship between the two has progressed to become outright hostile towards each other after South and North weakened East, although as a result of that very fact South doesn't consider East to be a threat to her anymore. South envies East because she is the only Great Witch with a supporter and even considered killing East as a quick way to obtain Surtr. Humans South's ultimate ambition is to enslave humankind, as opposed to West who sought peace with them, East who had no interest at all in them, and North, who seeks to exterminate them. As such, she has no problem with Supporters who were originally human, such as Lee and Lancelot, and can even exchange conversations with them quite easily. Trivia *Many of South's direct subordinates are named after plants. **Calia is a type of shrubbery while Roses and Peonies are flowers. *On the YC Issue 6 magazine in 2010, a colour image of South reveals her to have blonde hair despite its seemingly dark shading in the manhwa. Quotes *(To Neptis) "Prey that does not fight back ... is not delicious"Witch Hunter Manhwa: Chapter 36, Page 11 *(To Calia) "Watch carefully Calia, this is how you handle a toy"Witch Hunter Manhwa: Chapter 48, Page 19-20 *(To herself) "It's always nice to hear the sound of explosions and fire" References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Witch Category:Adversaries Category:Four Great Witches